Britten War Requiem Texts and Translations

Texts from the Catholic Mass for the Dead and the poetry of Wilfred Owen
I. REQUEIM AETERNAM
CHORUS
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine; Lord, grant them eternal rest;
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
and let perpetual light shine upon
them.
CHILDREN'S CHORUS
Te decet hymnus, Deus in Sion:
Thou shalt have praise in Zion, of God:
et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem; and homage shall be paid to thee in
Jerusalem;
exaudi orationem meam,
hear my prayer,
ad te omnis caro veniet.
all flesh shall come before Thee.
CHORUS
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine; Lord, grant them eternal rest;
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
TENOR
What passing bells for these who die as cattle?
Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons
No mockeries for them from prayers or bells,
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, -The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.
What candles may be held to speed them at all?
Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes.
The pallor of girls brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of silent minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.
CHORUS
Kyrie eleison
Christe eleison
Kyrie eleison

Lord, have mercy upon them.

Christ, have mercy upon them.
Lord, have mercy upon them.

II. DIES IRAE

CHORUS
Dies irae, dies illa,
This day, this day of wrath
Solvet saeclum in favilla:
Shall consume the world in ashes,
Teste David cum Sibylla.
As foretold by David and Sibyl.
Quantus tremor est futurus,
What trembling there shall be
Quando Judex est venturus,
When the judge shall come
Cuncta stricte discussurus!
To weigh everything strictly.
Tuba mirum spargens sonum
The trumpet, scattering its awful
sound
Per sepulchra regionum
Across the graves of all lands
Coget omnes ante thronum.
Summons all before the throne.
Mors stupebit et natura,
Death and nature shall be stunned
Cum resurget creatura,
When mankind arises
Judicanti responsura.
To render account before the judge.
BARITONE
Bugles sang, saddening the evening air;
And bugles answered, sorrowful to hear.
Voices of boys were by the river-side.
Sleep mothered them; and left the twilight sad.
The shadow of the morrow weighed on men.

Voices of old despondency resigned,

Bowed by the shadow of the morrow, slept.
SOPRANO
Liber scriptus proferetur,
In quo totum continetur,
Unde mundus judicetur.
Judex ergo cum sedebit
Quidquid latet, apparebut:
Nil inultum remanebit.

The written book shall be brought

In which all is contained
Whereby the world shall be judged.
When the judge takes his seat
All that is hidden shall appear:
Nothing will remain unavenged.

CHORUS
Quid sum miser tunc dicturus?
Quem patronem rogaturus,
Cum vix justus sit securus?

What shall I, a wretch, say then?

To which protector shall I appeal
When even the just man is barely safe?

SOPRANO AND CHORUS

Rex tremendae majestatis,
King of awful majesty,
Qui salvandos salvas gratis,
Who freely savest those worthy of
salvation,
Salva me, fons pietatis.
Save me, fount of pity.
TENOR AND BARITONE
Out there, weve walked quite friendly up to Death:
Sat down and eaten with him, cool and bland,
Pardoned his spilling mess-tins in our hand.
Weve sniffed the green thick odour of his breath,
Our eyes wept, but our courage didnt writhe.
Hes spat at us with bullets and hes coughed
Shrapnel. We chorused when he sang aloft;
We whistled while he shaved us with his scythe.
Oh, Death was never enemy of ours!
We laughed at him, we leagued with him, old chum.
No soldiers paid to kick against his powers.
We laughed, knowing that better men would come,
And greater wars; when each proud fighter brags
He wars on Death - for Life; not men - for flags.
CHORUS
Recordare Jesu pie,
Remember, gentle Jesus,
Quod sum causa tuae viae:
That I am the reason for Thy time on
earth,
Ne me perdas illa die.
Do not cast me out on that day.
Quarens me, sedisti lassus:
Seeking me, Thou didst sink down
wearily,
Redemisti crucem passus:
Thou hast saved me by enduring the
cross,
Tantus labor non sit cassus:
Such travail must not be in vain.
Ingemisco, tamquam reus:
I groan, like the sinner that I am,
Culpa rubet vultus meus:
Guilt reddens my face,
Supplicanti parce Deus.
Oh God spare the supplicant.
Qui Mariam absolvisti,
Thou, who pardoned Mary
Et latronem exaudisti,
And heeded the thief,
Mihi quoque spem dedisti.
Hast given me hope as well.
Inter oves locum praesta,
Give me a place among the sheep
Et ab haedis me sequestra,
And separate me from the goats,
Statuens in parte dextra.
Let me stand at Thy right hand.
Confutatis maledictis,
When the damned are cast away
Flammis acribus addictis,
And consigned to the searing flames,
Voca me cum benedictis.
Call me to be with the blessed.
Oro supplex et acclinis
Bowed down in supplication I beg Thee,

Cor contritum quasi cinis

Gere curam mei finis.

My heart as though ground to ashes:

Help me in my last hour.

BARITONE
Be slowly lifted up, thou long black arm,
Great gun towering toward Heaven, about to curse;
Reach at that arrogance which needs thy harm,
And beat it down before its sins grow worse;
But when thy spell be cast complete and whole,
May God curse thee, and cut thee from our soul!
CHORUS
Dies irae, dies illa,
Solvet saeclum in favilla:
Teste David cum Sibylla.
Quantus tremor est futurus,
Quando Judex est venturus,
Cuncta stricte discussurus!

This day, this day of wrath

Shall consume the world in ashes,
As foretold by David and Sibyl.
What trembling there shall be
When the judge shall come
To weigh everything strictly.

SOPRANO AND CHORUS

Lacrimosa dies illa,
Qua resurget ex favilla,
Judicandus homo reus:
Huic ergo parce Deus.

Oh this day full of tears

When from the ashes arises
Guilty man, to be judged:
Oh Lord, have mercy upon him.

TENOR
Move him into the sun
Gently its touch awoke him once,
At home, whispering of fields unsown.
Always it woke him, even in France,
Until this morning and this snow.
If anything might rouse him now
The kind old sun will know.
SOPRANO AND CHORUS
Lacrimosa dies illa

Oh this day full of tears

TENOR
Think how it wakes the seeds Woke, once, the clays of a cold star.
Are limbs, so dear-acheived, are sides,
Full-nerved still warm too hard to stir?
Was it for this the clay grew tall?
SOPRANO AND CHORUS
Qua resurget ex favilla,

CHORUS
Sed signifer sanctus Michael
repraesentet eas in lucem sanctam:
Quam olim Abrahae promisisti,
et semini ejus.

engulf them, lest they be plunged

But let the holy standard-bearer Michael

lead them into the holy light
as Thou didst promise Abraham
and his seed.

TENOR AND BARITONE

So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went,
And took the fire with him, and a knife.
And as they sojourned both of them together,
Isaac the first-born spake and said, My Father,
Behold the preparations, fire and iron,
But where the lamb for this burnt-offering?
Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps,
And builded parapets and trenched there,
And stretched forth the knife to slay his son.
When lo! an angel called him out of heaven,
Saying, Lay not thy hand upon the lad,
Neither do anything to him. Behold,
A ram, caught in a thicket by its horns;
Offer the Ram of Pride instead of him.
But the old man would not so,
but slew his son,
And half the seed of Europe, one by one.
CHILDREN'S CHORUS
Hostias et preced tibi Domine
Lord, in praise we offer to Thee
laudis offerimus; tu suscipe pro
sacrifices and prayers, do Thou receive
them
animabus illis, quarum hodie
for the souls of those whom we remember
memoriam facimus: fac eas, Domine, this day: Lord, make them pass
de morte transire ad vitam.
from death to life.
Quam olim Abrahae promisisti
As Thou didst promise Abraham
en semini ejus.
and his seed.
CHORUS
Quam olim Abrahae promisisti
et semini ejus.

As Thou didst promise Abraham

and his seed.

IV. SANCTUS
When from the ashes arises

TENOR
Was it for this the clay grew tall?
SOPRANO AND CHORUS
Judicandus homo reus:

lion, lest hell

tartarus, ne cadant in obscurum.
into darkness.

Guilty man, to be judged:

TENOR
O what made fatuous sunbeams toil
To break earths sleep at all?
CHORUS
Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem. Gentle Lord Jesus, grant them rest.
Amen. Amen.
III. OFFERTORIUM
CHILDREN'S CHORUS
Domine Jesu Christe, Rex gloriae,
Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory,
libera animas omnium fidelium
deliver the souls of the faithful
defunctorum de poenis inferni,
departed from the pains of hell,
et de profundo lacu:
and the bottomless pit:
libera eas de ore leonis, ne absorbeat eas deliver them from the jaw of the

SOPRANO AND CHORUS

Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus
Holy, holy, holy
Dominus Deus Saboath.
Lord God of hosts.
Pleni sunt ceoli et terra gloria tua,
Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory,
Hosanna in excelsis.
Hosanna in the highest.
Sanctus. Holy.
Benedictus qui venit in nomine
Blessed is he who cometh in the
Domini. name of the Lord.
Hosanna in excelsis.
Hosanna in the highest.
Sanctus. Holy.
BARITONE
After the blast of lightning from the East,
The flourish of loud clouds, the Chariot Throne;
After the drums of time have rolled and ceased,
And by the bronze west long retreat is blown,
Shall life renew these bodies? Of a truth
All death will He annul, all tears assuage?
Fill the void veins of Life again with youth,
And wash, with an immortal water, Age?
When I do ask white Age he saith not so:
My head hangs weighed with snow.

And when I hearken to the Earth, she saith:

My fiery heart shrinks, aching. It is death.
Mine ancient scars shalls not be glorified,
Nor my titanic tears, the sea, be dried.
V. AGNUS DEI
TENOR
One ever hangs where shelled roads part.
In this war He too lost a limb,
But His disciples hide apart;
And now the Soldiers bear with Him.
CHORUS
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, Lamb of God, that takest away the
sins of the world,
dona eis requiem.
grant them rest.
TENOR
Near Golgotha strolls many a priest,
And in their faces there is pride
That they were flesh-marked by the Beast
By whom the gentle Christs denied.
CHORUS
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi Lamb of God, that takest away the
sins of the world
TENOR
The scribes on all the people shove
and bawl allegiance to the state,
CHORUS
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi Lamb of God, that takest away the
sins of the world

TENOR
But they who love the greater love
Lay down their life; they do not hate.
CHORUS
dona eis requiem.

grant them rest.

TENOR
Dona nobis pacem.

Grant us peace.

VI. LIBERA ME
CHORUS
Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna, Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death
in die illa tremenda:
in that awful day
Quando coeli movendi sunt et terra: when the heavens and earth shall be
shaken
Dum veneris judicare saeculum per ignem. when Thou shalt come to judge
the world by fire.
SOPRANO AND CHORUS
Tremens factus sum ego, et timeo
I am seized with fear and trembling,
dum discussio venerit, atque
until the trial shall be at hand and
ventura ira. the wrath to come.
Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna. Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death.
Quando coeli movendi sunt et terra. When the heavens and earth shall be
shaken.
Dies illa, dies irae, calamitatis
That day, that day of wrath, of calamity
et miseriae, dies magna et amara
and misery, a great day and exceeding
valde. bitter.
Libera me, Domine.
Deliver me, O Lord.